To kick off the New Year, I want to share a great set of resources: Gatsby's Light Apps. I've embedded the video for their Literary Analysis app above, and it's worth a watch. I've also viewed their basic Essay Writer, and it's a winner, too. At $2.99 each, you really can't lose. I would recommend the basic Essay Writer for any course you are taking that requires writing essays. The focus on things like topic sentences and the examples of paragraphs will go a long way toward helping you to hone your writing skills.
The Literary Analysis App would be great for students in any literature-related courses (ENG221, LIT331, LIT332, ENG331 at Baker, for instance). In viewing the brief video above, I noticed that basics like considering the title as a "key" to meaning in the work are covered. These apps also contain links to web resources that students will find valuable.
Students who ask for samples of what instructors are "looking for" will find these apps handy as they include not only examples of literary works that demonstrate the basic principles, but they also include analysis paragraphs that model how to set up topic sentences and direct analysis of specific evidence from the text.
One word of caution: The literature apps focus on MLA format (which is logical) which is not typically used in online courses. If you recommend these applications to students, you'll want to emphasize that MLA is different from APA and consider providing the students with a template for APA and maybe even having a thread in the discussion board early in the term that shows the slight variations in MLA and APA.
Interestingly, Gatsby's Light also offers their apps in book format for those who are not really into using an app, but I suspect the apps are more useful, given the links to other resources.
The Literary Analysis App would be great for students in any literature-related courses (ENG221, LIT331, LIT332, ENG331 at Baker, for instance). In viewing the brief video above, I noticed that basics like considering the title as a "key" to meaning in the work are covered. These apps also contain links to web resources that students will find valuable.
Students who ask for samples of what instructors are "looking for" will find these apps handy as they include not only examples of literary works that demonstrate the basic principles, but they also include analysis paragraphs that model how to set up topic sentences and direct analysis of specific evidence from the text.
One word of caution: The literature apps focus on MLA format (which is logical) which is not typically used in online courses. If you recommend these applications to students, you'll want to emphasize that MLA is different from APA and consider providing the students with a template for APA and maybe even having a thread in the discussion board early in the term that shows the slight variations in MLA and APA.
Interestingly, Gatsby's Light also offers their apps in book format for those who are not really into using an app, but I suspect the apps are more useful, given the links to other resources.
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